Called the Christmas Bird Count, this event is the longest citizen science program in the world, where data has been collected since 1899. Here in Cache Valley it began in 1955. It occurs throughout the state and world with many countries participating. Visit your local Audubon chapters if you care to be involved. Wasatch, Salt Lake and St George all have chapters. Bear Lake, Vernal and Provo also do counts. And I am sure there are others in your area if you inquire.

Along with the fun it brings, the count has special significance for our changing climates’ impact on birds, which is disrupting populations and their spacial distribution are changing at an accelerating rate.
The data collected by observers over the past 118 years has allowed researchers to study the long-term health and status of bird populations across North America and Central and South America. When combined with other surveys such as the Breeding Bird Survey, it provides a picture of how the continent’s bird populations have changed in time and space. This long term perspective is vital for conservationists. It informs strategies to better protect birds and their habitat, and helps identify environmental issues with implications for people as well.

Audubon’s 2014 Climate Change Report is a comprehensive study that predicts how climate change could affect the range of 588 North American birds. Of the bird species studied, more than half are likely to be in trouble. The models indicate that 314 species will lose more than half of their current range by 2080.
Audubon’s Common Birds in Decline Report revealed that some of America’s most beloved and familiar birds have taken a nosedive over the past forty years.

142 species of concern are found in our state, including our state bird, the California gull and our national bald eagle.

If you aren’t up to braving the elements, Project FeederWatch and Great Backyard Bird Count are other options you may find by googling. I’m hoping for good visibility and temperatures above zero as I prepare my optical instruments and hot chocolate.

And please keep those bird feeders full as we enter the coldest month of the year!

Project FeederWatch is a winter-long survey of birds that visit feeders at backyards, nature centers, community areas, and other locales in North America. FeederWatchers periodically count the birds they see at their feeders from November through early April and send their counts to Project FeederWatch. FeederWatch data help scientists track broadscale movements of winter bird populations and long-term trends in bird distribution and abundance. https://feederwatch.org/

Launched in 1998 by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and National Audubon Society, the Great Backyard Bird Count was the first online citizen-science project to collect data on wild birds and to display results in near real-time. http://gbbc.birdcount.org/about/

On December 19th, I will have joined several others for an exciting day of counting bird species and numbers in our lovely, snowy valley. Our numbers will be entered on a database that will be shared with the world. The Christmas Bird Count began on Christmas Day in the year 1900 when ornithologist Frank M. Chapman, an officer in the nascent Audubon Society, proposed a new holiday tradition—a “Christmas Bird Census” that would count birds during the holidays rather than slaughtering them, which had been the past ritual.

The data collected by observers over the past 115 years has allowed researchers to study the long-term health and status of bird populations across North America. When combined with other surveys such as the Breeding Bird Survey, it provides a picture of how the continent’s bird populations have changed in time and space. This long term perspective is vital for conservationists. It informs strategies to protect birds and their habitat, and helps identify environmental issues with implications for people as well.

Along with the fun it brings, this year’s count will have special significance for our local Audubon chapter which was awarded a National Audubon grant for “spreading the word” on our changing climate’s impact on birds. Through the grant writing and implementation I have a heightened awareness of how bird populations and their spacial distribution are changing at an accelerating rate.

Audubon’s 2014 Climate Change Report is a comprehensive, first-of-its kind study that predicts how climate change could affect the ranges of 588 North American birds. Of the bird species studied, more than half are likely to be in trouble. The models indicate that 314 species will lose more than 50 percent of their current climatic range by 2080.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has included Audubon’s climate change work from CBC data as one of 26 indicators of climate change in their 2012 report.

In 2007, CBC data were instrumental in the development of Audubon’s Common Birds in Decline Report, which revealed that some of America’s most beloved and familiar birds have taken a nosedive over the past forty years.

142 species of concern are found in Utah including our state bird, the California gull and our the bald eagle, our national bird. Averaging the most recent 10 years, our valley has seen 16 species increase and 11 species decline. Of course we would need a take a much broader sweep to know the true story of these species, but our data may play a significant part in the overall analysis.
And please keep those bird feeders full as we enter the coldest month of the year!

I set out this week to investigate why so many gifts in ‘The 12 Days of Christmas’ are birds. You know the song: there are swans a swimming, geese a laying, calling birds, French hens, turtle doves, and that partridge in the pear tree. Well, I never did find the answer. But what I did find was some interesting information about a native bird often incorrectly referred to as a partridge –a bird that is supremely well adapted to life in winter.

Ruffed grouse resemble partridges in that they are ground-dwelling game birds of similar size and stature. Their name comes from a collar of long feathers surrounding the necks of males who fluff them out when seeking mates in spring. The birds come in two color phases, differentiated mainly by their tail feathers, which can be either gray or chestnut brown. While not well understood, a grouse’s color phase seems to be linked to climate. Grouse with gray tails are more prevalent in areas defined by cold winters, while brown grouse are more common in warmer climates.

Now that snow is blanketing the landscape across much of their territory, the ruffed grouse is in its element. Harsh winters that adversely affect populations of other ground-dwelling game birds such as quail, pheasant, and turkeys, don’t seem to faze ruffed grouse. Their ability to survive is dictated by a number of special adaptations. The first is on their feet, where each winter nubby feathers called pectinations grow on the sides of the birds’ toes. Looking like strange combs, the bristles act as snowshoes, allowing the grouse to walk on top of even the softest snow. More special feathers grow on grouse legs like personal leg-warmers, and also near the bird’s beak, covering its nostrils. Scientists believe the feathered mustache enables grouse to breathe in warmer air than they otherwise would, thus keeping their internal temperature more stable.

Changes in weather bring about some changes in behavior as well. Warmer months find the birds resting in evergreens or thick brush. But in winter, when a foot or more snow covers the ground, grouse roost in the snow. The birds create small burrows which hide them from predators, offer protection from frigid winter winds, and keep them surprisingly snug and warm. Many a backcountry skier or snowshoer has been startled by a hidden grouse bursting noisily from its snowy lair.

The birds’ diet also changes seasonally from a summer sampling of green foliage, seeds, berries and insects, to the protein-rich dormant flower buds of trees such as aspen and birch. Grouse also won’t hesitate to eat the sweet flower buds of domestic trees like apples, and were at one time considered a pest in New England orchards. And so it’s actually not out of the question that within ruffed grouse territory, you might wake up one Christmas morning to find a ‘partridge’ in your pear tree.

Speaking of birds and the holiday season, it’s nearly time for the Audubon Society’s annual Christmas Bird Count. Over the next few weeks, tens of thousands of volunteers around the country will join in this 113-year-old tradition, collecting data on the types and numbers of birds living in their area. This data allows scientists to monitor and track populations over time and space. Participants can be seasoned birders, first timers, or anything in-between. In Logan, Ogden, Salt Lake, and Zion National Park, the count takes place Saturday, December 20th. Other locations around the state will host their events between now and January 5th. To find a count near you, visit birds.audubon.org and click on Christmas Bird Count. For the Stokes Nature Center and Wild About Utah, this is Andrea Liberatore.

For the Stokes Nature Center and Wild About Utah, this is Andrea Liberatore.